Crank-case-oil heater



All@ 27,1929 v. N. ALBERT-50N l 1,726,206

GRANK, CASE OIL HEATER Filed Jan. 9, 1929 Patented Aug. 27, 1929.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR N. 'ALBERTSON, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOE. ALBERT THOMPSON, F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

CRANK-CASE-OIL HEATER.

i Application filed January 9, 1929. Serial No. 331,374.

This invention relates to heaters for heating up theoil in the crankcase .of an internal combustion engine during cold weather.

In cold climates, when automobile engines, or any typeV of'fiiiteriialvcombustion engines are used, the oil in the crank cases of the engineswill become stiff andl viscous, if the engines are left out in the coldwithout being used for any length of time. When the oil is in suchcondition, the engine, when first started,h will not pump suiiicient'oil to the bearings to insure perfect lubrication and there is thusdanger of injuring certain of the movable parts of the engine, unlessthe oil is, at least, partiallythawed out, by heating, before the engineis first started. A number of dilferent means have been provided forheating the oil in a crank case prior to the starting of an internalcombustion engine, but these means have not proved entirelysatisfactory.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a novel andimproved heater for heating the oil in the crank case of an internalcombustion engine which'will elii-4 ciently heat the oil for use, willbe easy to install and can be economically operated without waste ofheat.

To these ends, the invention consists in the novel parts and novelcombinations of parts, hereinafter dened in the claims and described inthe following specification, made in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similarparts throughout the various views, and, in which Fig. 1 is a verticalsection taken through the lower portion of an internal combustionengine, and illustrating an embodiment of the present invention appliedthereto, and

F ig. 2 is a more or less diagrammatic view illustrating the electricalcircuit for the device ofthe invention.

Referring to the drawings, portions of an internal combustion engine ofstandard construction are illustrated, which include the engine case 3having outwardly projecting anges at its lower end to which the crankcase 4 of the engine is bolted. The crank shaft for the engine isdesignated by theY numeral 5 and the main central bearing for the crankshaft is indicated by the numeral 6. A rotary oil pump 7 1s shown which`9 secured to the crank case 4 in spaced re.

lationship above the bottom thereof.V rihe inlet portion 8 of thepump-7VV is provided with a half spherical-shaped strainer 10 of theusual type for straining the oil before the admission thereof, into theinlet port. It will be understood ythat the construction, thus fardescribed, is merely illustrative of one type of engine to which thepresent device can be applied.

In accordance'with the present invention, a long straight tube 11,constructed preferably from copper or other conducting material, isprovided, and anvelectrical heating element 12 which may be merely ashort wire constructed from michronfe, or other similar metal isinserted in one end of the tube 11, hereinafter designated the lower endof the tube, to project from the said end of the tube for some littledistance into the tube. The heating element l2 is insulated' from thesides of the tube as by asbestos 13, or similar non-combustiblematerial, and the extreme lower end of the tube 11 is flattened and oneendY of the heating element 12 is connected with the flattened portionof the tubeas by means of a nutted bolt 14 running through the flattenedportion and clamping the said end of the heating element thereto. Theother end of the heating element 12 is connected to an insulatedelectrical conductor 15 incased within a iexible armored cable 16, whichruns from the last mentioned end of the heating element 12 through thetube l1 to adjacent the instrument board 17 of the automobile, or to anysimilar convenient location where an electrical switch such as theswitch 18 may be located. One contact of the switch 18 is connected tothe conductor 15 and the other contact ofthe switch is connected to aconductor 19 leading from and secured to one terminal of a storagebattery 20, the other terminal of the storage battery being grounded asby means of the conductor 2l.

To install the heater in the crank case of an internal combustionengine, the crank case 4 will be first removed. A small opening 3a willthen be bored in the engine casing 3 adjacent its lower end andpreferably at a point transversely opposite the main central bearing 6for the crank shaft 5. The opening 3'nl will be tapped to receive ahollow coupling member 22, the said coupling member having twoexteriorly threaded sleeves projecting from a polygonal portion thereof,which abuts the outer side of the engine casing 3. `The upper end of thecopper tubing 11, together with conductor 15 and flexible cable 16 willthen be bent at right angles as at 23 and the upper portion of thetubing will be inserted from the in s ide of the engine casing 3 throughthe coupling member 22, so that the upper end of the tubing 11 projectsa short distance beyond the outer sleeve of the coupling meinber 22.Previous to the insertion of a portion of the flexible cable 15in tube11, the flexible cable willVV have been threaded through a thimble 24and a hollow nut 25. The nut 25 will now be screwed onto the exteriorsleeve of theJcou-pling member 22, thereby Vforcing'the thimble 24against lthe outer end of the exterior sleeve of the coupling member 22and clamping the thimble tightly against the tube 13 to securely holdthe tube in position at its upper end. The tubing 23 may be carriedaround the web at the bottom of the engine case 3 carrying the upperportion of the main bearing member 6, or else an opening may be cut inthe web through which the tubing 11 will be ex' tended. The tube may bealso carried around the oil pan 9 or extended through any suitableopening therethrough as is i1- lustrated. The tubing 11V will carriedstraight downwardly from the point 23 until it is brought to a point 26spaced a short distance abovethe'normal position of the bottom of thecrank case 4, whereupon t-he tube will be bent inwardly at a rightanglefor some little distance, to a position` approximately directlybeneath the center of the crankshaft 5. At this point designated by thenumeral 27, the lower-end of the tube will be bent diagonally upwardlyand toward the inlet portion 8 of the oil pump 7, and the extreme end ofthe tube will be inserted through an opening in the strainer 10, so thatthe end of the tube will project within the strainer lQ-.l-.and closelyadjacent the central part of tfieinlet portion 8. Thediagonallyinclined: portion of the lower end of the tube 11 will encompass most ofthe heating element 13 and, accordmgly, the `heating element will bediagonally disposed upwardly toward inlet portion 8 of the pump. Thecrank case 4 may now again be secured in place, whereupon the heaterwill be ready for operation, considering the electrical connections tohave been already made.

If after the internal combustion engine 'provided with the heater of thepresent inpreferably be vention, has been standing in the cold, and itis desired to start the engine, the switch 18 will be iirst operated toplace the con ductors 19 and 15 in electrical communication with thestorage battery 20. An,elec trical current will now flow from thestorage battery 2O through conductor 19, switch 18, conductor 15 toheating element 12 and :from the heating element 12 through the bolt 14to the tube' 11 and thence to -a ground through the engine casing 3. Thecircuit will be complete, inasmuch as the conductor 21v connected to oneterminal of the storage battery is grounded. As current flows throughthe heating element 12, it will be heated up, 'thereby heating andmelting the Woil in the crank case 4 around-thegdiagonally disposedportion of the tube 11. A diagonal heated channel of oil will thus beprovided and this channel will extend from adjacent the bottom of thecrank case to the interior of the strainer 10 adjacent the intakeportion 8 of the pump 7. The entire lower portion of the tube ll willstand in Spagedlrela'- tionship from the walls of the crank case 4, sothat no heat will pass by conduction to heat the crank case 4 withoutfirst passing through whatever oil there may be in the crank case.Practically all of the heat from the heating element 13 will, therefore,be expended in heating up the oil in the crank case andl practicallynone of the heat will be wasted.

vAfter the heater has been set in operation for a few minutes, theengine can be started. As the engine is started, a supply of liquid oilin warm, free running condition mayA be drawn from the diagonal channelaround the diagonally disposed heating element portion of the tube l1 into the inlet portion 8 of the oil pump, and this warm free running oilmay be carried by the pump into the bearings of the engine to properlylubricate the same. As the oil around the diagonally disposed portion ofthe tube '11 is heated up, it will tend to rise, but rather than risedirectly through the heavy viscous and cold oil in the crank case, itwill naturally take the easiest path to a higher level, that is, insteadof working through the cold oil, it will rise diagonally along thediagonal por` tion of the tube 11 toward the inlet portion 8 of the pumpand thus find its way directly into the pump. The warm oil, therefore,instead of-rising to the top of the cold oil where it could not be usedfor lubricating purposes until all the oil in the crank case 1s melted,and 1n free running condition, as 1s the usual case when crank case oilheaters are used, will be capable of being used as 16 and heatin element13 can all be bent as desired, an the tube will have sufiicient rigidityto maintain its shape after being bent, it will be seen that the devicecan be applied to lany type of crank case, and thc parts can be bent toconform to the shape ot the particular crankv case wherein the device isused. Also vthe tube can be bent to avoid obstructions in the interiorof the, crank case, so that a specialconstruction will not be necessaryfor different engines, whereon the device is used.

The parts of the device vare few, the construction is simple and theinstallation may be easily made. The heater has been found to be veryefiicient in actual practice.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various partswithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

What is claimedis:

1. The combination with a crank case of an internal combustion engineand an oil pump associated therewith, of an electrical heating elementmounted in said crank case and extending diagonally upwardly fromadjacent the bottom of the crank case to adjacent the inlet portion ofsaid pump, and

means for supplying electrical energy to said electrical heatingelement.

2. The combination with a crank case of an internal combustion engineand an oil pump associated therewith, of a hollow tube iorming anelectrical conductor and extending through said crank case well abovethe oil holding portion thereof, said tube projecting downwardly intothe lower portion of the crank case to a point adjacent the inletportion of said pump, said tube beino' spaced at all points except atits point o admission to said crank case. from the walls thereof, aheating element within thc lower portion of said hollow tube andconnected at one end to the lower end of said tube,

an electrical conductor extending through said tube insulated therefrom,and secured to the other end of said heating element, and means forsupplying electrical energy to said conductor, whereby oil in said crankcase may be heated by said heating element and the heat may be onlyconducted to the outside of said crank case from said heating element bypassage through the oil as a medium.

In testimony whereof affix my signature.

vIcToR N. LBERTsoN.

